WICHITA, Kan. — On Sunday, the BYU women’s basketball team attended a press conference prior to their WBIT semi-finals performance on Monday. With the historic run it has had thus far, it’s hoping to keep that momentum going when facing a familiar face, Kansas.
The contest falls on a Monday, which puts the Cougars at a bit of a disadvantage some would say, with them choosing not to practice on Sundays due to religious beliefs. The players and coach of BYU seem to have a different perspective.
“When you look at it from a perspective of our team and our culture we’ve built and the faith that we have it’s a day that we get to have a different perspective on life.” said sophomore Delaney Gibb. “There’s things that are bigger than basketball and Jesus Christ and having faith in Him is something that’s bigger than basketball.”
The Cougars have faced this mountain many times. Their most recent experience was when they faced the Missouri Tigers in the second round of the WBIT.
They dominated, with a 28-7 lead in just the first minutes. The Cougars finished off the game with 93 points over the Tigers, making it the most scored against a Power 4 team since 2001. They seemed to not be affected by the rest day right before the Monday night matchup.
“I’ve been at BYU for a long time and I can’t think of maybe two times on the road where we’ve actually done anything that had anything to do with preparing for the game,” said coach Lee Cummard.
Cummard has not only experienced this as a coach, but also as a player in the early 2000s, where he earned Mountain West Conference Player of the Year in 2008 and led BYU to three straight conference titles.
The Cougars are preparing to face the Jayhawks, a fellow big 12 conference member that they faced earlier in the regular season. The outcome of the game wasn’t as the Cougars had hoped, as they fell to the Jayhawks 81-60.
“We didn’t play our best that night, that’s how we feel,” said Cummard.
Despite being tied going into halftime, the Jayhawks owned the second half. They outscored the Cougars by 21 points.
Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jaliya Davis led the Jayhawks with 28 points and 12 rebounds, fueling the force behind Kansas’ dominance. 23 of those points came from the second half Jayhawk takeover.
“That was the rough adversity patch of our season,” said sophomore Brinley Cannon. “I’m just excited to see how with the momentum we have now and the growth and improvement we’ve made, how we can go out … and continue the great run we have going.”
Since the face-off in February, BYU has played its best basketball, peaking in the post season. It has won eight of its nine last games.
Gibb has been a standout in this run for the Cougars. She has owned the floor for BYU and has peaked with the postseason momentum. In this historic run, the star guard is averaging 22.8 points along with 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
The No. 1 seeded Cougars' semi-final game in the WBIT will be broadcast on ESPNU at 3 p.m. MDT.